Note: I posted this on a now defunct site back when Randy Pausch was still alive. I was thinking about him today…went to find it…saw the site was gone…and decided to repost here.
Hope you find it worthwhile…
Originally posted April 18, 2008
Who among us doesn’t feel the crush of a time deficit these days?
Randy Pausch does, as much as anyone. He has become quite the personality since announcing he has terminal pancreatic cancer. You may have seen him on television in recent weeks Pausch delivered his “Last Lecture,” titled “Really Achieving Your Childhood Dreams,” at CMU on September 18, 2007. This talk was modeled after an ongoing series of lectures where top academics are asked to think deeply about what matters to them, and then give a hypothetical “final talk,” i.e., “what wisdom would you try to impart to the world if you knew it was your last chance?”
Of course, for him, it really was a last lecture.
His book, largely based on the lecture, debuted as a bestseller last week.
Pausch is a fascinating individual, and in doing some research on him, I stumbled across his “other” lecture at Google Video. Frankly, it is just as strong as his other, more popular work, and perhaps more actionable.